Door operating mechanism for mixers



F. H. HEINE I DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR MIXERS Original Filed Aug. 31, 1944 May 17, 1949.

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6 Sheets-Sheet 2' Original Filed Aug. 31, 1944 May 17,1949. F. H. HEINE 2,470,100

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR MIx Rs 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 'May17,1949.- F." H. new: Q 2. 0.

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I DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR MIXERS Original Filed Aug. 31, 1944 I 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 May 11,1949. F. H. HEM 2,41 ,1 I

noon ormmme MEcHANIsM FOR mxmzs Original Filed Aug. 31, 1944 1 e Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented May 17, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR MIXERS poration Original application August 31, 1944, Serial No. 552,101. Divided and this application July 17,

1945, Serial No. 605,502

4 Claims.

This invention pertains to the art of mixing machines of a construction suitable for mixing of concrete aggregates and the miXing of materials in glass, chemical, fertilizer, and other plants where dust conditions may prevail.

My invention of this application involves primarily certain novel door closing means for the charging and/or discharging end of a mixer of the tilting drum type. The door means of my invention is maintained closed in relation to the charging and discharging end of the tilting drum of my mixer, during the mixing operation, and only opened for purposes of charging and discharging. The novel door operating means of the present invention comprises primarily certain operating parts which are mounted upon a cradle in which the mixing drum is supported for a continuous rotative movement parallel with the axis of the drum and in which the drum is adapted for the further continuous oscillating movement, enabling an exceedingly eflicient mixing operation to be obtained by reason of the combination of the rotating and oscillating movement in a continuous manner.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 552,101, filed August 31, 1944, for Mixer.

The various instrumentalities comprising the door operating mechanism of my invention will be understood more fully upon reference to the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a general top plan view of a mixing machine embodying th improvements of this invention.

Figure 2 is an end view of the mixer.

Figure 3 is a side elevation, dotted lines showing the range of movement of the door to open position and general range of downward tilting movement of the mixer to its discharge position.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional View taken about on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 and showing more particularly in section the drive gearing for efiecting the rotation of the mixer about its longitudinal axis.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view bringing out more clearly the driving mechanism for causing the continuous back and forth tilting movement of the mixer in a plane of its rotary movement.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary top plan view bringing out more clearly the operating mechanism for the door.

Figure 7 is a side view of the mechanism generally illustrated in Figure 6, also being a frag- 55 2 mentary view, dotted lines showing partially the position of the door actuating rods as when limlited by the stop means controlling the limit of door opening movement.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view showing more clearly features of the door operating means of Figures 6 and 7.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional and plan view of certain door operating parts as seen in Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a detail view of a connecting pivot member of the door mechanism.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the cradle member alone.

General construction of mixer The general construction of my mixer is not unlike that used today and presented in my previously issued Patent No. 2,271,518, in relation to the mounting of the tilting mixing drum and certain operating mechanism therefor.

The mixer comprises the base I from which upwardly extend spaced pedestals 2 disposed at opposite sides of the mixing drum 3. The drum 3 is, generally speaking, of the usual oppositely tapered form and is supported for revolution about its longitudinal axis by means of a cradle or carriage 4, said cradle 4 being equipped with trunnions 5 projecting from opposite sides thereof and carried in bearings 6 at the upper ends of the pedestals 2. At its middle portion the cradle 4 is equipped with a suitable bearing 1 to receive a trunnion on the back or permanently closed end of the drum 3, the bearing 1 being equipped with suitable anti-friction bearings to take care of the thrust of the drum 3 with the contained materials therein as the drum rotates about its longitudinal axis.

The drum 3 is likewise equipped with the gear ring 8, see Figure 4, and roller track 9 welded or otherwise secured to the drum and surrounding its middle portion. Suitable rollers I0, see Figure 2, shown in dotted lines, are interposed between the curved body of the cradle 4 to support the central portion of the drum in connection with the cradle so that the drum may rotate freely with its ring gear 8 and roller track 9 upon the cradle 4. The foregoing generally describes the construction of my mixing drum and the cradle supporting means therefor substantially as heretofore known in the art, broadly speaking.

Drive for the rotation of drum Figures 1, 2 and 4 illustrate the use of a motor ll supported on a bracket [2 carried by one of 3 the pedestals 2 of the machine, which motor causes the rotation of the drum 3 about its longitudinal axis. As seen clearly in Figure 4, the shaft l3 of the motor ll carries a pinion M engaging a spur gear in the housing member it.

The gear I5 is provided with suitable bored holes l? in which are located rubber covered bronze bushings I8 and said bushings receive pins IS on the flange 2B of a hub 2i keyedor otherwise attached to the pinion shaft 22 which passes through the trunnion 5 of the cradle 4 adjacent to One of the pedestal bearings 6. The shaft 22 carries the bevel pinion 23 meshing with a bevel gear 24 keyed on the short drum driving shaft 25, said shaft 25' having keyed thereto a drive pinion 26 engaging the teeth of the ring gear 8 surrounding the drum 3.

In the operation of my machine the drum 3 is driven continuously, ordinarily, after starting the machine, by means of the motor i l; in other words, the rotation of the drum 3 about its longitudinal axis is continuous during the mixing operation as well as charging and discharging operations of the drum.

Tilting drive means for the drum As previously indicated; it is proposed in my mixer construction to utilize a continuous back and forth tilting movement for the drum, or, in other words, to impart. to the drum and the mass of materials thereina continuous agitating movement incident to drum movement in a direction different from the movement which is imparted incident to the rotation of the drum about its longitudinal axis and by means of the blading therein. Figures 1, 2, 3, and 5 best show the tilting rotative operating mechanism now to be set forth. A I r In Figures 1 and 3 it will be noted that supported upon and adjacent to the base I of my machine is a motor 21 whichmay be an electric motor similar to the motor ll. Eitherof these motors may be self-contained power units,. however, such as an explosive engine. h As seen in Figure 1, the shaft 28 of the motor fl is connected by reducin-g gearing diagrammatically illustratediin Figure 5, affording driving connection between the motor and the driving pinion 29. The pinion-zfl meshes with a combined gear and crank wheel 'fladjacent to one of the pedestals 2 and supported in keyed relation to a driving shaft 3! which carries at its opposite ends two of the crank wheels 30, one of which is engaged by the pinion 29. Connecting or pitrnan rods 32 connect the crank wheels with suitable oifstanding trunnion members 33 projecting from the opposite sides of the cradle 4, and the turning of the crank wheels 3|] obviously imparts oscillating movement to the connecting rods 32, and the latter communicate such moveinent to the cradle 4 and thereby to the bodily carried drum 3 for effecting continuous oscillating or partial rotating movements back and forth to the said drum 3.

For temporarily stopping the tilting movement of the drum 3 in the position of the Figure 3 illustration, at which time the "closing door 34 of the drum may be opened to the dotted line position indicated in-sa-id'figure, and for stopping the drum 3 at its tilted discharged position as indicated by lower dotted lines in Figure 3, there will be provided any suitable type of electric pneumatic or hydraulic brake such as designated 35 in Figure 1, the specific kind of brake not being matenai to the invention. In either of such stopped positions the door 34 may be opened as will be later described.

Consistency meter operating means The employment of my drum 3 for bodily tilting continuous agitating movement of the volume of aggregates or material therein advantageously makes for readily obtained indication of the range of variation of consistency of the materials that are being mixed in the drum 3. In other words, the resistance to the tilting driving torque for effecting the tilting action of the drum 3 may be communicated to the bearing tube 36 in which the drive shaft 31 is supported upon the base of the machine by equipping the tube 3% with suitable spaced arms 37, see Figures 2, 3 and 5 particularly. Two pairs of these arms are provided and each pair is connected by a pivot pin connection 33with a bracket 39 and one of the arms 3'? extends downwardly at 3117 to fit between travel limiting blocks 40. This permits a limited amount of travel of the last mentioned arm 31?),

which amount of travel can be registered on suitable scale mechanism,- not shown, of a consistency indicator, not shown, but to which the said arm 31b may be connected by a rod 41. A

spring 42, see Figure 3, connects with said downwardly extending arm 31 to absorb shock and hold the rocker bearing tube 36 in anormal position. Obviously, deflection of the spring 42 may be used to measure'the consistency of the materials which are being mixed in the drum 3; The rod M is directly connected with a rearward extension of arm 3Tb, which extension is designated 37a. By these means, including the pins 38, which are located slightly off the center line of direct thrust between the'connectionsof the tilting arms 32 and main tilt frame, the application of the thrust of driving torque ofshaft 3| to the torque tube 36, is-enabled, for the purpose set forth. As the mixing continues the concrete materials pileup less and less in drum 3 and the variation in driving forces to' effect mixing will be registered by any suitable indicator, or graphic recorder, operated by the rod 4| Door and door operating mechanism The closing door 34, previously mentioned, and operating means therefor, are illustrated particularly in Figures 1, 3, 6 to 9 of the drawings; The end of the mixer closed by the door 34 is equipped with a suitable rubber or similar resilient gasket against which the door closes to provide a water-tight connection and from which the door is moved When opened. Whenso en= gaged with such gasket the door 34 rotates with the mixing drum 3. The door is directly carried in a rotatable manner by means of a crosshead or yoke 43-provided with a suitable'bearing 44, see Figure 6, receiving acentral trunnion 45 project'- ing from the door and affording the rotative mounting of the door on the cross member 43. The door 34 is operated to and from its closed p0= sitions by means of an air or hydraulic ram 46 carried by the cradle 4, see Figure 1, and the-piston rod of which ram is connectedby 'a-member 41 with a bell crank lever 43. The bell crank lever 48 is connectedby a cross'rod 49 to a'similar bell crank lever 58, thetwo levers '48-and 59 being pivoted to opposite sides of the cradle 4 at opposite sides of the mixer. The two bell cranks 48 and 59 are furthermore connected by rods 5| and 52, respectively, with the crosshead or yoke -:43-by linkage andractuating parts now to be described in reference to Figure 3 and Figures 6 to 9 par-v ticularly.

" The crossbar or yoke 43 is preferably curved so that if a battery of mixers of the type of my invention are arranged with their charging ends in a central charging zone closer setting of the mixers is permitted than would otherwise be the case.

The rods and 52 are connected to door supporting and actuating rods 53 by linkage arm and lever parts which are the same for the both rods 5| and 52, as seen best in Figures 6 to 9, so that the mechanism for the rod 5| alone will be described. The rod 5| or the rod 52, as the case may be, is attached at the pivot pin 54 to one end of a rocker lever 55 having hollow supporting bearing member 55a, the opposite end of which lever'is connected by a pin 56 to a yoke 51; the yoke 51 in turn at the end opposite the pin 56 is connected to the trunnion or pin portions 58 of a block 59 which is attached to the rod 53 by the spaced clamping nuts 6|]. The action of the parts incident to a rightward movement of the rod 5| in Figure 7 is to rock the lever 55 to the dotted line position in said figure, thereby carrying the yoke 51 in a leftward direction and shifting the rod 53 longitudinally a very short distance surficiently to cause said rod 53 to slightly open door 34 by moving it from the open end of drum 3. In this part of the door opening operation rods 53 of course act on the door 34 simultaneously. Each rod 53 moves or slides on a guide, rest, and stop member 3|. The said door opening movement of each rod 53 is limited by the action of a nut E on its free end engaging an end of a rocker sleeve tilt and guide member C which is integral with bearing shaft or pin B, that passes through the member 55a of lever 55, the parts 550, and B being supported in a sleeve bearing A on the cradle 4.

Thus the initial movement of rods 53 by pull on rods 5| and 52 slides rods 53 sufficiently to shift yoke 43 and slightly open the door 34 as stated. Then further pull on rods 5| and 52 rocks the levers 55 to the dotted line positions of Figure '7 after nuts E abut the tilting members C; thereupon the levers 55, yokes 51, rods 53, rock as units about the axes of the shafts or pins B, and the rods 53 are compelled to rise from their suprported positions on the members 6|. This will carry the cross head 43 and door 34, the latter now slightly spaced from the open end of drum 3, to a position fully at one side of said open end as per upper dotted lines of Figure 3, a movement additionally limited by lateral arms 63 of brackets 62.

The door 34 will usually be opened when the open end of drum 3 is at or nearly at its highest position and cleared of concrete materials being mixed, thus requiring little operating energy for actuation.

In closing, the operation of the rods 5| and 52 is that of pushing on connected ends of levers 55, lowering rods 53 first to points of resting on stops 6|. The door 34 is thereby centered at the drum opening. Further reverse rocking of levers, 55 slides rods 53 through tilt members C and nuts E move away from members C as parts 58 go below dead center positions and exert a pull on rods 53 pressing the door 34 into tight closing position at the drum opening.

Since the two rods 53 move together incident to the operation of the described unit at each side of the cradle, the door 34 will be carried upwardly by the two rods 53 because of their connection with the ends of the crosspiece or yoke member 43, and when so carried upwardly with the drum stopped from tilting in the position somewhat as 6 shown in Figure 3 the drum 3 may be charged. In other words, the operation of the actuating units of Figures 6 and '7 as described is to impart movement in an upward direction relatively to the drum, to the door 34, and this-relative movement may be performed when the drum 3 is to be charged in about the position shown in Figure 3.

General operation of machine It is notable that by reason of the provision of the rubber covered bronze bushings l8, see Figure 4, the gear I5 is flexibly connected with the hub I1 and shaft 22, and this method of driving the shaft 22 and thereby the drum for its axial rotation absorbs the pulsating shocks out of the motor driveunit H and its associated gearing.

As seen in Figure 3, the mixing drum is illustrated as when it is turning about its longitudinal axis and at such time the drum will be continuously tilted up and down so as to create the two-directional mass shifting of the materials being mixed. Of course, in the rotation of the drum around its longitudinal axis, the materials are likewise broken up, and agitating and pouring actions produced by the blading in the drum.

At such time as the mixing period is completed, under the control of any well known construction of batchmeter timing mechanism, the drum may be stopped in a position in which its discharge opening is donwwardly opened by movement of the door 34 and the drum thus discharged. The batchmeter may operate, furthermore, to bring the drum 3 to its discharge position and effect opening of the door 34 automatically. After the mixing drum is stopped in its discharge position sufficiently long, the timing mechanism may control the movement of the drum to a charging position while the door 35 is opened for re-charging of the drum. As stated before, the brake 35 will be availed of for controlling the stopping and starting of the tilting action of the mixer as a part of the mixing function of the machine.

Effectively speaking, my machine and method hereof utilize means whereby to produce multidireotional continuous mass movements of the materials being mixed and during such movements the blading of the drum breaks up the mass or materials as such movements are imparted thereto. In this manner the mixing of the material is accelerated, affording the time reduction factor previously referred to, and other advantages stated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Partent of the United States, is:

1. In a mixing machine, a mixing drum provided with an opening for passage of the material relative to the drum, a door for closing said opening, and means for effecting initial bodily planar movement of the door from the drum opening to separate the door from the drum, including a crosshead on which the door is supported, actuating rods connected at one end to said crosshead, pivoted rocker sleeves, one receiving each of the actuating rods, a lever for each of said rods, a moving member connecting each lever to its associated rod between the rocker sleeve and the crosshead, stops at the other ends of the actuating rods to limit longitudinal movement of said actuating rods, rest, guide and stop members coacting with the actuating rods to guide their longitudinal movement and limit swinging movement thereof in one direction, and means to rock said levers to initially shift the actuating rods longitudinally to cause the door to separate from the drum, and,

emmroo A mixing machine as claimed in claim 1, combined with a member :to limit the swiriging move- =ment of the rods in-an-opposite direction to that above mentioned.

3. A mixing machine as claimedin'blaim 1, in

*which the -rocker sleeves and levers have a com- "mon axis.

LA' mixing machine 'as claimed in claim 1, combined with a member to limit the swinging movement of the rods in anopposite direction to th-at above mentioned, said limiting member comprising :a bracket on--theguide,'rest, and stop 'member,-"and a lateral arm on said bracket to'engage theactuating rod.

FERDINAND. 'I-I. -I-IEINE.

'REFEBENCES CITED 'The'fb'llowing'references are of recbrd in the file of this ;patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Jate "1,968,691 'Knipe Ju1y-31, 1 934 2,063,574 Yett Dec. 8,-193'6 2 ,255,-028 Long Sept. 2,;1941 "2,271,518 Heine Feb. 3, 1942 2,308,901 Vialletal Jan. 19,1943 

